Events
Performance
Guy Chambers, Piano
Saturday 2nd May: 3:00pm | Oak Hall | Free. No booking
One of the UK’s most successful living songwriters will be performing on the Grand piano at West Dean House.
Guy Chambers is celebrated as the creative force behind some of Robbie Williams’ most iconic hits, including Angels, Let Me Entertain You, Rock DJ, Feel, No Regrets, and Millennium.
Beyond his work with Williams, Chambers has co-written and produced for a wide range of artists, including Tina Turner, Kylie Minogue, Scissor Sisters, Diana Ross, Tom Jones, James Blunt, Rufus Wainwright and Mark Ronson, cementing his reputation as one of the UK’s most influential contemporary songwriters. His work also spans film and theatre, including the RSC’s musical The Boy in the Dress and the Sky Original films A Christmas No.1 and The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland.
Photo by Rhys Frampton
Rev’d Peter Owen-Jones
Saturday 2nd May: 2:00pm | Oak Hall | Free. No booking
Reverend Peter Owen Jones, TV presenter and acclaimed author, will be reading from his book Conversations with Flowers. Join us for an inspiring exploration of poetry, nature, spirituality, and the hidden language of flowers in this unique and intimate setting.
Listening to Nature | Forests without Frontiers
Monday 4th May: 2-3.30pm | Meet at Sculpture Garden
Celebrate May Day with a daytime gathering rooted in nature, storytelling, and sensory immersion.
Begin by joining a talk from Forests Without Frontiers, led by founder Nicoleta Carpineanu aka Nico de Transilvania. This is an opportunity to learn more about the organisation’s work, including its growing presence in Sussex, and to hear stories that invite a deeper connection with forests and the living world.
This is followed by a guided “listening to nature” experience—an invitation to slow down, awaken the senses, and attune to the subtle rhythms of the surrounding landscape.
The day culminates in an immersive performance by Nuala on violin and Florence, performing artist, embodying the fox, badger, and mouse in a poetic exploration of instinct, play, and transformation. With beautifully crafted masks designed by John Moore, the performance dissolves the boundary between human and animal, drawing the audience into a shared, enchanted space.
£15 donation includes tree planting
Exclusive Tours
EXCLUSIVE WEST DEAN GARDENS TOUR
- Friday 1st May: 10:30am | 12:00pm | 2:00pm
- Saturday 2nd May: 10:30am | 12:00pm | 2:00pm
- Sunday 3rd May: 10:30am | 12:00pm | 2:00pm
- Monday 4th May: 10:30am | 12:00pm | 2:00pm/li>
Price: £25pp
Enhance your visit to ROSA Botanical Art Fair with an exclusive Garden Tour. Your tour guide will give you expert insight into the running and management of key areas of the Garden. Seasonal highlights will be explored and explained, including the Walled Kitchen Garden, Victorian Glasshouses, Orchard, Dry Meadow, Edwardian Pergola and Sunken Garden, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the new market gardens where a greater emphasis is put on producing seasonal food for visitors and students at West Dean.
Meet at the Gardens Entrance.
EXCLUSIVE WEST DEAN HOUSE TOUR
- Friday 1st May: 10:30am | 12:00pm | 2:00pm
- Saturday 2nd May: 10:30am | 12:00pm | 2:00pm
- Sunday 3rd May: 10:30am | 12:00pm | 2:00pm
- Monday 4th May: 10:30am | 12:00pm | 2:00pm
Price: £25pp
Join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of the West Dean Collections and Archive with a tour guide. This is a unique opportunity to discover intriguing stories about West Dean House and some of its fascinating occupants and visitors. In the historic house, you will see rare paintings, furniture, tapestries bringing West Dean’s rich history to life.
Meet in the Oak Hall
Creative Taster Sessions
Collage with Vintage Botanical fabric
Tutor: Anne Kelly
Level: Suitable for all
Date: Friday, 1st May
10:00am | 12:00pm | 2:30pm | College Workshops
Price: £35
A botanical-themed textile collage taster session introducing students to layered fabric techniques, hand-stitching, and mixed-media approaches inspired by spring flora. Students will create a small textile panel to take home.
Botanical Screen Printing
Tutor: Lara Mantell
Level: Suitable for all
Date: Saturday, 2nd May
10:00am | 12:00pm | 2:30pm | Vintage Tea Marquee
Price: £35
Explore screen printing onto paper using sustainable natural dye colours. Taking inspiration from the gardens of West Dean, you will learn how to cut a simple stencil print design. The natural dye printing inks are made from leaves, roots, and flowers, and they make entrancing and harmonious colours.
Painting Realistic Blueberries
Tutor: Liz Shippam
Level: Suitable for all
Date: Saturday, 2nd May
10:00am | 12:00pm | 2:30pm | Vintage Tea Marquee
Price: £35
Observing, mixing colours to match our fruit and then building up layers so they look 3D and realistic. Suitable for all abilities, a perfect opportunity to slow down and reflect on the splendour of the natural world and the healing properties of art.
Botanical Beadwork
Tutor: Holly Parr
Level: Suitable for all
Date: Sunday, 3rd May
10:00am | 12:00pm | 2:30pm | Vintage Tea Marquee
Price: £35
Sample the lost art of Venetian Glass Flowers, better known as French Beading. In this taster session you will create a single stem using the versatile Continuous Loops technique. Suitable for all abilities, a perfect opportunity to slow down and reflect on the splendour of the natural world and the healing properties of art.
Introduction to Botanical Painting
Tutor: Sandrine Maugy
Level: Suitable for all
Date: Sunday, 3rd May
10:00am | 12:00pm | College Workshops
Price: £35
Sandrine will demonstrate drawing plant subjects and paint them in watercolour to produce vibrant pictures that are full of life and glowing colours.
10:00am | 12:00pm | 2:30pm | 2:30pm | College Workshops
Botanical Art for Beginners
Tutor: Sheryl Pape
Level: Suitable for all
Date: Monday, 4th May
Price: £35
In this session we will be practicing sketching a flower wet in wet watercolour technique and dry brushing technique. Learning basic botanical techniques for botanical art in watercolour.
Creative Taster Session – Weave a Flower Motif
Tutor: Mary Crabb
Level: Suitable for all
Date: Monday, 4th May
Price: £35
Running in the Vintage Tea Marquee alongside the ROSA Botanical Art Fair at West Dean College. Worked in the hands, make a small woven flower motif. Learn the basics of the basketry technique of twining, using colourful materials to make a twined flower motif individual to each maker
For those interested in developing their practice further, this taster provides an introduction to Mary’s range of short courses at West Dean College.
No previous experience is required.
Flora in Art + Design
1-4 May 2026
West Dean, Chichester, West Sussex, UK